Hoarding - 88 cats
Lawrence Township, NJ (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003
County: Mercer
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 9 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Kennth Lane
Agent waded through cats to return to vehicle. Truck could not move an inch due to again being swarmed with cats. Agent opened 10-pound bag of dry dog food that was in truck and walked to driveway of property. Cats followed anxiously, pawing at agent and bag of food. Agent shook contents of bag onto ground and it was devoured as it hit the ground. Agent ran to vehicle and left.
Later down the road Agent found a kitten with crusted over eyes behind seat of truck eagerly eating dog biscuits. Mr. Lane told agent that this started with 4 cats 3 years ago that just kept breeding. He said there was no one to call to stop it. Agent informed him that the SPCA or animal control were the first of many places that should have been contacted. Mr. Lane replied "oh, yeah I guess." He has relocated because "The cats just took over, I couldn't stay there. The original 4 cats are currently with him in new location and have been fully vetted and neutered. Agent requested proof, as well as visual inspection of those 4 cats.
In all, over 88 cats were removed from the property by the SPCA, all of whom were suffering from Upper Respiratory, Feline Leukemia, and other assorted illness. Many of the cats had birth defects from inbreeding. All cats are emaciated with rib, hip and spine protrusion. All cats agent viewed have nasal discharge, eye discharge and are sneezing, all signs of upper-respiratory infection. Many of the cats have eyes that are crusted shut, and many others have deformed or damaged eyes, which can be caused by prolonged URI.(see photos) In the end 20-30 cats remained on the property, agents were unable to capture because they had become used to our traps. Animal control was then sent in to catch the remaining cats. References- Court summons #s PCA-04-001900 ; PCA-04-0019001
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